Foldable hay rake

ABSTRACT

A foldable hay rake has two rake arms comprised of two or more arm members with rake wheels thereon. The hay rake arms are pivotally secured together to a pivot assembly to pivot in a vertical plane. The pivot assembly is pivotally secured for pivoting in a horizontal plane to a vertical post having positioning wheels at a lower end. An upper end is pivotally secured to outer ends of wing arms comprised of parallelogram members which are pivotally secured to a central base frame, which has a power cylinder to pivot the wing arms in a horizontal plane.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to large foldable hay rakes that can move througha hay field of cut hay in a swath up to 40 feet wide or greater to turnthe hay and present the hay in elongated windrows ready for harvestingor baling, usually in large round or square bales weighing almost a tonor more.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention is an improvement over prior and existing large foldablehay rakes such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,899,055.

Existing foldable hay rakes typically have a pair of wheel supportedelongated rake arms that are pivotal along their lengths, and capable ofbeing pivoted individually with respect to each other. Whilesubstantially advancing the art of hay raking, these devices havecertain shortcomings. Among them are that the rakes are cumbersome touse both in operation and for travel; they require substantial room forturning and maneuvering; they do not adapt well to uneven ground; theyare susceptible to damage in the field, and they do not always wellcover the field to deal with all the hay that is being raked.

It is therefore a principal object of this invention to provide afoldable hay rake that will overcome the foregoing problems, and whichwill enhance the performance and efficiency of raking hay.

A further object of this invention is to provide a foldable hay rakewherein the substantial weight of the rake is held by centrally locatedpositioning wheels.

Another object of this invention is to provide a foldable hay rake thatcan be easily observed from the towing tractor while in operation, andwhich can individually rake and turn separate rows of cut hay, or tocombine such rows into a single row for baling.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An elevated flat base frame has a hydraulically operated T-beam whichhas a laterally extending beam which is moved forwardly and rearwardlyto move a pair of elongated rake arms back and forth from a positionparallel to the direction of travel of the rake, to a V-shapedconfiguration for the hay raking operation.

The rake arms are comprised of at least two arm members pivotally anduniversally hinged at adjacent ends and supported at the movable jointtherebetween by a pair of positioning wheels. The wheels are connectedto the lower end of a support post, with the upper ends being pivotallysecured to a parallelogram wing structure that extends from the upperends of each post to a pivotal connection with the base frame. Thelateral extending member of the T-beam has struts that extend from theends of the lateral beam to pivot the parallelogram-configured wingstructures, and hence the support posts and rake arms outwardly from thebase frame. Hydraulic cylinders between the rake arms and the hingedconnection of the members of the rake arms determine the angularposition of the rake arms.

Castor wheels are located at the forward and rearward ends of the rakearms to facilitate their movement to and from the angular rakingposition of the rake arms.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the hay rake of this invention in a travelmode;

FIG. 2 is a plan view similar to that of FIG. 1 but shows the hay rakeof this invention in a first mode of being moved into an operationalcondition;

FIG. 3 is a plan view similar to FIGS. 1 and 2 but shows the hay rake ofthis invention in a complete operational position;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged scale plan view of the base frame of thisinvention while in the travel mode of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a plan view similar to that of FIG. 5 but shows the base framein the positions of FIG. 2 and FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a side perspective view of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a side perspective view of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is an elevational view of the post that extends upwardly frompositioning wheels, and related components,

FIG. 10 is a plan view as seen from above of the apparatus of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of the pivotal assembly between theupstanding posts, the positioning wheels, and the separate hay rakearms, taken on line 11—11 of FIG. 9;

FIG. 12 is an elevational view taken from the opposite direction of thesubject matter of FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is an elevational view of the positioning wheels and the pivotalassembly attached to the upstanding post as seen from a forwarddirection;

FIG. 14 is an elevational view of component parts of the pivotalassembly;

FIG. 15 is an elevational view of other component parts of the pivotalassembly;

FIG. 16 is a forwardly looking elevational perspective view of theassembled pivotal assembly;

FIG. 16A is an exploded perspective view of the pivotal assembly;

FIG. 16B is a perspective view of the assembled pivoted assembly;

FIG. 17 is a bottom plan view of the stabilizer frame of the invention;

FIG. 18 is a forward elevational view of the stabilizer frame of FIG. 17in its lowered operational condition; and

FIG. 19 is a side elevational view of the stabilizer frame of FIG. 17when in an inoperative stored position underneath the base frame.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The hay rake 10 has a base frame 12 which is normally in a substantiallyhorizontal position. (FIG. 5). Base frame 12 has a forward end 14, arearward end 16, parallel sides 18, diagonal sides 19, an upper flatdeck 20, and a bottom plate 21 (FIGS. 17, 18). A tongue 22 is rigidlysecured to the forward end 14 and extends downwardly and forwardly to beconnected to the drawbar of a conventional farm tractor 24.

With reference to FIGS. 5-8, a hollow guide housing 26 is rigidlysecured to and extends from the rearward end of base frame 12 in aforward direction along the centerline of the base frame and terminatesat an open forward end 28. A T-beam 30 comprised of a forwardlyextending beam 32 is slidably mounted in housing 26 with its forward endterminating in a transverse forward beam 34 with outer ends 36. The beam32 is covered with a layer of vinyl plastic 38 or the like to enhancethe sliding movement of beam 32 in housing 26 without the need forlubrication.

A hydraulic cylinder 40 (FIGS. 7 and 8) is rigidly secured to housing 26and includes a conventional forwardly extending rod 42. The forward endof rod 42 (FIG. 7) is connected in any convenient way to the center oftransverse beam 34 so that the cylinder when actuated can move theT-beam 30 from a rearward position (FIGS. 5 and 7) to a forward position(FIGS. 6 and 8).

As shown in FIGS. 1-8, parallelogram-configured wings 46 are comprisedof leading beam 48 and trailing beam 50 which are pivotally secured bytheir inner ends in spaced parallel relationship to both diagonal sides19 of base frame 12. Each wing 46 is adapted to nest in a travelposition of FIG. 1, and to be pivoted outwardly from the base frame 12at an angle of approximately 60° when in the raking position of FIG. 3.Tie members or struts 52 are pivotally connected to the end of beam 34,and are pivotally connected by their other ends to trailing beam 50. Thewings move from the travel position in FIG. 1 to the raking position ofFIG. 3 by moving T-beam 30 from a rearward position (FIG. 1) to aforward position (FIG. 2). The leading beam 48 is length adjustable asshown in FIG. 5 (see numeral 54, FIG. 8) an increment of approximatelyone inch by cylinder assembly 56 as will be discussed hereafter.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the outer end of trailing beam 50 ispivotally secured to the top end of steel post 58. Link 59 is pivotallyconnected by its ends to the outer end of forward beam 48 and post 58.Thus, the parallelogram-configuration of the wings 46 is defined by thepivotal connection of the inner ends of the leading and trailing beamsto the base frame 12, and the outer ends thereof pivotally connected bylink 59. The longitudinal axis of link 59 is parallel to side 19 of baseframe 12 (FIG. 1).

As best shown in FIG. 9, a horizontal gusset plate 60 is rigidly securedto the outer end of trailing beam 50, and rotationally mates with asimilar gusset plate 62 on the top of post 58. A suitable vertical pivotshaft (not shown) extends upwardly from the top of post 58 through thegusset plates 60 and 62 which serve to strengthen the pivoted connectionbetween the end of trailing beam 50 and post 58.

The lower end of post 58 is secured to axle 64 which rotatably supportspositioning wheels 66. This arrangement serves to equally balance thedownward load on post 58 on the wheels 66.

Forward and rearward rake arms 68 and 70, respectively are pivotallyjoined together by hinge assembly 71 (FIG. 16B) adjacent their innerends 68A and 70A and are always in elongated alignment. An inner endplate 71A is secured to the inner end 68A of rake arm 68 to which spacedhinge sleeves 71B are secured. Sleeves 71B on plate 68A mates with tube71C which is welded to inner end plate 70A. Hinge pin 71E extendsthrough sleeves 71B and tube 71C to pivotally secure the rake armstogether.

As will be discussed hereafter, the pivot assembly 72 is pivotallyattached to post 58 just above the level of positioning wheels 66. (FIG.13). Pivot assembly 72 (FIGS. 15 and 16A) includes a subframe 76 whichis vertically disposed and has vertical sides 78 and 80, a top member82, and a bottom member 83. A stub bearing sleeve 84 with a horizontalcenter axis is welded to the lower inside surface of side 78 and iscentered on an aperture 79 in side 78 in alignment with aperture 86 toreceive pin 88. Pin 88 is used to pivotally connect the inner end ofrake arm 70 to assembly 72 by extending through a correspondinghorizontal aperture (not shown) in the end of rake arm 70 when theaperture in the end of the arm 70 registers with aperture 79, sleeve 84and the aperture 86 in the lower end of side 80. This assembledcondition is shown in FIGS. 15 and 16.

A horizontal bracket 90 is welded to the bottom of side 80 and has ahollow vertical sleeve bearing 92 (FIGS. 15 and 16A) welded theretoadjacent an outer end of the bracket. The sleeve bearing 92 is invertical alignment with a similar sleeve bearing 94 that is welded to anextension of top member 82 (FIG. 15).

Pivot assembly 72 has an additional subframe 104 which extends aroundpost 58 and which is pivotally secured to subframe 76 about a horizontalaxis (FIGS. 16 and 16B). Subframe 104 is rectangular in shape andnormally dwells in a horizontal plane. It has an inner side 106 to whicha vertical sleeve 108 and detachable pin 110 (FIG. 16A) are a part; anouter side 112, a rear side 114, and a front side 116 (FIGS. 16A and16B). The side 112 is detachably secured to the rearward and forwardsides 114 and 116, respectively by bolts 118 (FIG. 11). A horizontalstub shaft 120 is welded to an inner surface of side 106 (FIG. 16A) tobe pivotally and slidably received in hollow horizontal bearing sleeve122 welded to and extending through post 58. As shown in FIGS. 11 and16B, pin 88 pivotally extends through apertures (not shown) in rake arm70. This assembly, shown in FIG. 16B, pivotally secures the subframe 104to post 58 for limited rotation of the post with respect to the subframe76. Ample clearance is provided between forward side 114 and rearwardside 116 for this pivotal movement. The engagement of stub shaft 120with bearing sleeve 122 maintains the position of post 58 against theinner surface of side 106. Removal of bolts 118 will permit side 112 tobe removed from the subframe to service or lubricate the shaft 120 orthe bearing sleeve 122 as may be required.

The vertical bearing sleeve 108 welded to the outer surface of side 106(FIG. 16B) is of a size to fit between the vertically disposed oppositebearing sleeves 92 and 94 on subframe 76 shown in FIG. 16A. A pin 126with pin latch bar 128 is held in place by bolt 130 to detachably pivotsubframe 104 to subframe 76 (FIG. 16A). Thus, pivot assembly 72 iscomprised of subframes 76 and 104 which are secured together about pin126 for limited swinging about the vertical axis of pin 126 (FIG. 16A).

The rake arms 68 and 70 can rotate about the vertical axes of pin 126 ofsubframe 104 so that the angular orientation thereof as shown in FIGS.1-3 can take place. For stabilization purposes, a stabilizer bar 146(FIG. 12) extends between subframe 76 and rake arm 68 which serves tomaintain subframe 76 in a vertical position at all times when hay arms68 and 70 pivot in a vertical plane with respect to each other. The bar146 is pivotally secured by its ends (FIG. 12) to subframe 104 and rakearm 68.

Thus, the attitude of the positioning wheels 66 is maintained at alltimes by the parallelogram-configured wing structures 46 via the post58. However, the separate rake arms 68 and 70 can be pivoted throughhinge assembly 71 (FIG. 16B) both upwardly and downwardly as terrainfeatures require. The arms 68 and 70 can be rotated horizontally on pin126 between the positions shown in FIG. 1 and FIGS. 2 and 3 betweentravel and operational positions without stressing in any destructiveway the pivotal assembly 72.

With reference to FIG. 11, a hydraulic cylinder 132 with piston rod 134extends between frame 104 and rake arm 70 with universal connections atthe ends of the piston rods and cylinders. The cylinders 132 cause thehorizontal combined rotation of the arms 68 and 70.

Castor wheels 138 are mounted on the forward ends of leading rake arms68. Similarly, castor wheels 140 are mounted on the rearward ends oftrailing rake arms 70.

With reference to FIGS. 17-19, a V-shaped stabilizer frame 141 with sidediagonal side members is pivotally secured by the upper ends of members141A to the bottom plate 21 of base frame 12 by members 141B so as to belocated in a horizontal position, (by suitable fasteners, not shown)during the field operations, and to be located in a vertical plane whenin a travel mode (FIG. 18). A horizontal bar 141C is welded to the lowerends of member 141A opposite to members 141B. Length adjustablestabilizer bars 141D are pivotally secured to the ends of bar 141C andcan be detachably folded and retained by pin or chain number 141E in aninoperative position as shown in FIG. 17. However, the bars 141D can bemoved to the position of FIG. 18 when in the travel mode, and the freeends thereof can be coupled to the front ends of leading rake arms 68 byextension members 141F to provide some lateral stiffness between thelateral position of the castor wheels 138 as the device is being towedin the travel mode of FIG. 1. When not in use, the frame 141 is detachedfrom the hay arms 68, and folded back to the position shown in FIGS. 17and 19. The frame is detachably held in the position of FIGS. 17 and 19by clevis 141G.

Conventional lift tubes 142 (FIG. 4) are operationally connected to hayrake wheels 144 and are adapted through conventional means (not shown)to raise the wheels 144 off of the ground for traveling, and to engagethe ground during raking.

It should be understood that the farm tractor 24 is equipped with one ormore hydraulic circuits to separately control the hydraulic cylinders40, 56 and 132. This circuitry has not been shown in the drawings but iswell within the expertise of one skilled in the art. The cylinders 56are hydraulically coupled together in conventional fashion in a slavemode, so that they operate in unison. This can also be true of thecylinders 132 although it is sometimes desirable to have an overridemechanism so that they can be independently operated if desired.

In operation, the rake 10 is towed to the hay field in which it is tofunction by farm tractor 24 through a conventional coupling between thetongue 22 and the drawbar of the tractor. The hydraulic lines of thecylinders on the rake are operationally connected to the hydrauliccircuit or circuits of the tractor, all of which are controlled from thetractor by the operator. FIG. 1 is a plan view of the hay rake of thisinvention in its transport position.

Upon entering the field where the raking is to take place, the lifttubes 142 are moved to lower the rake wheels 144. The hay in the fieldwill have been previously cut and cut or placed in a plurality ofwindrows which are substantially parallel. The purpose of the rake ofthis invention is to gather together or combine the cut hay from aplurality of windrows into a single windrow for baling whereupon theoriginal windrows are tumbled or turned to facilitate their furtherdrying before the baling is later conducted. Thus, the operator of thetractor aligns the hay rake 10 in the condition shown in FIG. 1 in adirection where the operator expects to make a first pass through thehay field.

The first step in readying the hay rake for operation is to actuate thecylinders 56 to shorten the leading beam 48 of the wing structures 46slightly (e.g., 1 inch or so) which turns the positioning wheels 66slightly inwardly. The tractor is then placed in reverse and whilebacking, the hydraulic cylinder 40 on the base frame 12 is actuated toextend cylinder rod 42 and to move the T-beam 30 forwardly from thepositions of FIGS. 5 and 7 to the forward positions of FIGS. 6 and 8.This causes the hay rake to then assume the position shown in FIG. 2 ofthe drawings. The slight “toeing in” of the positioning wheels 66 causesthe hay arms to easily move to this position as the rake movesrearwardly. The cylinder assemblies 56 are then reversed so as to bringthe positioning wheels 66 back into a forwardly orientation.

The cylinders 132 are then actuated to cause the rake arms 68 and 70 topivot from the position shown in FIG. 2 to the position in FIG. 3. Thecylinders 132 cause the rearward rake arm 70 to pivot inwardly towardseach other. Since the forward rake arms 68 are linked to the rearwardrake arm 70 through hinge assembly 71 as described heretofore, theforward rake arm 68 will move outwardly from each other as the rearwardrake arms are moving towards each other. The precise angular positioncan be determined by the operator through the control over cylinders132.

The lift tubes 142 are thereupon conventionally moved from an elevatedposition to a lower ground engaging position whereupon the hay rake 10is ready for operation. All the while, positioning wheels 66 areoriented in a forwardly direction by reason of theparallelogram-configured wing structures 46. The great weight of thevarious components of the device are centered on the post 58. Thesubframe 76 is maintained in a precise vertical position by stabilizerbar 146. This vertical orientation serves to substantially reduce thetorsion imposed upon the pivot assembly 72 and the posts.

The castor wheels 138 and 140 serve as gauge wheels to maintain the hayrake arms 68 and 70 at the correct height. They also support the ends ofthe arms during transport as the arms may pivot on pivot assembly 71.The castor wheels work independently of each other to accommodatevariations in terrain.

When the tractor hitch or tongue 22 goes upwardly or downwardly, thepost 58 will tilt forwardly or rearwardly, respectively, on pin 120(FIGS. 16A, 16B).

The hay rake of this invention increases the visibly of the operation bythe tractor operator. It makes turning easier and quicker. The versatilepivotal abilities of the pivot assembly 72 allow each of the rake arms68 and 70 to move over terrain features of different elevation. Themanner of construction of the hay rake 10 facilitates such repairs asmay be required.

To return the hay rake from its operating position of FIG. 3 to itstravel position of FIG. 1, the cylinders 132 are reversed to move therake arm 68 and 70 back to the positions of FIG. 2. The movement ofcylinder assemblies 56 as described above is reversed as the hay rake ismoved forwardly. The cylinder 40 is then reversed so as to cause theT-beam 30 to move from its forward position to its rearward position(FIG. 6 back to the position of FIG. 5) to cause the travel alignment ofFIG. 1 to be assumed. The V-shaped stabilizer frame 141 is moved intoits operating position as shown in FIG. 18, and the hay rake isthereupon in its travel mode for removal to another field of hay as soonas the lift tubes 142 are actuated to raise the hay raking wheels 144upwardly from the ground surface.

It is therefore seen that this invention will achieve at least all ofits stated objectives.

1. A foldable hay rake, comprising, a base frame member having forwardand rearward ends, and opposite sides, a tongue member secured to theforward end of the base frame for securing the hay rake to a primemover, a pair of elongated wing arms having inner and outer ends withthe inner ends being pivotally secured to the base frame and beingadapted to swing outwardly and diagonally with respect to the baseframe, an elongated hay rake arm structure pivotally secured to theouter ends of the wing arms, and having a midsection and forward andrearward ends, a plurality of hay rake wheels secured to the hay rakearm structure, positioning wheels pivotally secured to the midsection ofthe hay rake arm structure, caster wheels pivotally secured to the hayrake structure, adjacent its forward and rearward ends, the wing armseach being comprised of a spaced beam and strut in parallel relation toform a parallelogram configuration, each wing arm being operativelyconnected by its outer end to a vertically disposed post connected tothe positioning wheels to hold the positioning wheels in a forwardlyextending direction regardless of the pivotal position of the hay rakearm structure with respect to the base frame and the wing arms, andpower means for pivoting the wing arms with respect to the base frame.2. The foldable hay rake of claim 1 wherein second power means areconnected to the hay rake arms and the posts for pivoting the hay rakearms with respect to the posts.
 3. The foldable hay rake of claim 1wherein the hay rake arms are secured to the posts by means of auniversal joint.
 4. The foldable hay rake of claim 1 wherein the wingarms are pivotal between positions approximately parallel to the sidesof the base frame in a travel mode to a V-shape configuration withrespect to each other of less than 90° in an operational mode.
 5. Thefoldable hay rake of claim 1 wherein the hay rake arms are comprised ofa plurality of separate beam sections, with the position wheels beingmounted on a center portion thereof, and castor wheels being mounted onthe forward and rearward ends of the endmost beam sections.
 6. Thefoldable hay rake of claim 4 wherein the V-shape configuration comprisesa wide forward throat position, and a narrower rearward opening definedby the diagonally positioned hay rake arms.
 7. The foldable hay rake ofclaim 1 wherein the power means comprises a pair of two-way hydrauliccylinders that are connected to permit synchronous movement of the hayrake arms with respect to each other.
 8. The foldable hay rake of claim1 wherein the hay rake arms are comprised of separate arm memberspivotally secured to a pivotal assembly secured to the post above thepositioning wheels.
 9. The foldable hay rake of claim 8 wherein the armmembers can pivot in vertical and horizontal planes with respect to thepivotal assembly.
 10. The foldable hay rake of claim 9 wherein the postcan pivot in a vertical plane with respect to the pivotal assembly. 11.The foldable hay rake of claim 9 wherein the pivotal assembly has asubframe that is vertically disposed and is pivotally secured about ahorizontal axis to a first arm of the hay rake adjacent an inner endthereof, means connecting the hay rake arms about a horizontal axis atinner ends thereof, and an elongated stabilizer arm being pivotallysecured by opposite ends thereof about horizontal axis to the subframeand the inner end of a second arm of the hay rake to keep the subframein a substantially vertical position.
 12. The foldable hay rake of claim1 wherein the wing arms hold the posts and the positioning wheels in aforwardly extending position regardless of the pivotal position of thewing arms.
 13. The foldable hay rake of claim 12 wherein the struts ofthe wing members are length adjustable to selectively permit theparallelogram configuration of the wing arms to be skewed to induce aslight deviation of the posts and positioning wheels from a forwardlyextending position to facilitate the movement of the hay arms into anangular position with respect to each other.
 14. The foldable hay rakeof claim 1 wherein a laterally extending beam is on said base framemember, power means for moving the laterally extending beam in a forwardor rearward direction with respect to the base frame, and elongated tierods connecting outer ends of the laterally extending beam to the wingarms to pivot the wing arms from a position approximately parallel tothe sides of the base frame to and from an outwardly and diagonallyextended position from the base frame to adjust the distance between theposts and the positioning wheels on the opposite ends of the wing arms.15. The foldable hay rake of claim 1 wherein the positioning wheelscomprise at least two spaced apart parallel wheels with a common axle,with the post being secured to the axles.
 16. The foldable hay rake ofclaim 1 wherein flat horizontal mating bearing plates are located at theoperative connection between the outer ends of the wing arms and upperends of the posts.
 17. The hay rake of claim 1 wherein each wing arm issecured to an upper end of the posts.
 18. The foldable hay rake of claim11 wherein the means for pivotally connecting the hay rake arms togethermaintains the hay rack arms in longitudinal alignment with each other.19. A foldable hay rake, comprising, a base frame member having forwardand rearward ends, and opposite sides, a tongue member secured to theforward end of the base frame for securing the hay rake to a primemover, a pair of elongated wing arms having inner and outer ends withthe inner ends being pivotally secured to the base frame and beingadapted to swing outwardly and diagonally with respect to the baseframe, an elongated hay rake arm structure pivotally secured to theouter ends of the wing arms, and having a midsection and forward andrearward ends, a plurality of hay rake wheels secured to the hay rakearm structure, positioning wheels pivotally secured to the midsection ofthe hay rake arm structure, each wing arm being operatively connected byits outer end to a vertically disposed post connected to the positioningwheels, a pivotal assembly mounted on each of said post above saidpositioning wheels, the pivotal assembly including horizontal andvertical subframes pivotally secured together about a vertical axis, thevertical subframe being pivotally secured to the rake arm structureabout a horizontal axis, the hay rake arm structure being comprised ofat least two arm members pivotally secured at inner ends to pivot abouta horizontal axis, and one of the arm members being pivotally securedabout a horizontal axis to the vertical subframe adjacent its inner end.20. The foldable hay rake of claim 19 wherein power means is on saidbase frame member for pivoting the wing arms with respect to the baseframe.
 21. The foldable hay rake of claim 19 wherein power means areconnected to said horizontal subframe and one of the arm members forpivoting the hay rake structures in a horizontal plane with respect tothe wing members.
 22. The foldable hay rake of claim 19 wherein anelongated stabilizer bar is pivotally secured to its ends to thevertical subframe and a second arm member to keep the vertical subframein a substantially vertical position.
 23. A foldable hay rake,comprising, a base frame member having forward and rearward ends, andopposite sides, a tongue member secured to the forward end of the baseframe for securing the hay rake to a prime mover, a pair of elongatedwing arms having inner and outer ends with the inner ends beingpivotally secured to the base frame and being adapted to swing outwardlyand diagonally with respect to the base frame, an elongated hay rake armstructure pivotally secured to the outer ends of the wing arms, andhaving a midsection and forward and rearward ends, a plurality of hayrake wheels secured to the hay rake arm structure, positioning wheelspivotally secured to the midsection of the hay rake arm structure,caster wheels pivotally secured to the hay rake structure, adjacent itsforward and rearward ends, and wherein each wing arm is operativelyconnected by its outer end to the upper end of a vertically disposedpost connected to the positioning wheels, and power means on the baseframe and connected to the wing arms for pivoting the wing arm withrespect to the base frame.
 24. A foldable hay rake, comprising, a baseframe member having forward and rearward ends, and opposite sides, atongue member secured to the forward end of the base frame for securingthe hay rake to a prime mover, a pair of elongated wing arms havinginner and outer ends with the inner ends being pivotally secured to thebase frame and being adapted to swing outwardly and diagonally withrespect to the base frame, an elongated hay rake arm structure pivotallysecured to the outer ends of the wing arms, and having a midsection andforward and rearward ends, a plurality of hay rake wheels secured to thehay rake arm structure, positioning wheels pivotally secured to themidsection of the hay rake arm structure, a laterally extending beam onthe base frame member, power means for moving the laterally extendingbeam in a forward or rearward direction with respect to the base frame,and elongated tie rods connecting outer ends of the laterally extendingbeam to the wing arms to pivot the wing arms from a positionapproximately parallel to the sides of the base frame to and from anoutwardly and diagonally extended position from the base frame to adjustthe distance between the posts and the positioning wheels on theopposite ends of the wing arms.
 25. The foldable hay rake of claim 24wherein the laterally extending beam is secured at a center portionthereof to a longitudinally extending beam that is longitudinallyslidably secured to the base frame, and means for slidably moving thelongitudinally extending beam in forward or rearward longitudinaldirections.
 26. A foldable hay rake, comprising, a base frame memberhaving forward and rearward ends, and opposite sides, a tongue membersecured to the forward end of the base frame for securing the hay raketo a prime mover, a pair of elongated wing arms having inner and outerends with the inner ends being pivotally secured to the base frame andbeing adapted to swing outwardly and diagonally with respect to the baseframe, an elongated hay rake arm structure pivotally secured to theouter ends of the wing arms, and having a midsection and forward andrearward ends, a plurality of hay rake wheels secured to the hay rakearm structure, wheels supporting the hay rake arm structure, the wingarms each being comprised of a spaced beam and strut in parallelrelation to form a parallelogram configuration, and power means forpivoting the wing arms with respect to the base frame.